How hard is it to transition?? Type 4s

[YummyC]

I have gotten a lot of new growth this time around. I am 9 weeks post and I have at least 1.5 inches already. Chalk it up to the heat here in Djibouti or just the fact that I have been working out, eating well and drinking plenty of water daily. I now know that I am a true 4a, I cna see the spiral bright as day. I con wash every other day and massage my scalp at night and my new growth feels weird to me; in a good way though. Its soft and kind of springy. Without mne boring you guys with talking too much about this, I just want to ask how hard is it to transition? How did you come to that decision? I've had a relaxer for so long, I've never really looked at the curl of my hair and now that I see it and its pretty its so different. What I remeber of my hair as a child was tough, hard to comb, head hurting sundays. I wonder if I went natural now if it would be like that or much easier since I now know a bit more about hair care. Thoughts...?

 

[gloomgeisha]

It wasn't hard for me to make the decision to transistion at all. A bad perm/weave job pretty much made the decision for me. With the right amount of information and patience, you should be able to do do it without too much hassle. There's plenty of threads started by women transistioning to natural, and try looking at some of the natural hair threads (Like the 4a roll call) so you can get an idea of what kind of moisturizing, detangling, or protein products you might want to try on your hair.

For me personally, light proteins and plenty of moisture were essential; coupled with low manipulation. My hair pretty much stayed in non-existention braids the entire 7 months of my transistion. Lots of hot oil treatments and deep conditioning.

Funny thing was that I got so attached to products that worked for my transistioning hair- but once I went natural my hair was like "what the heck skippy is that and why did you slather it on me?"

Good luck with your decision and I hope this helps a bit.

 

[Eclass215]

I know exactly what you mean. Before I went natural and I was telling my friends and family I wanted to do it, they all said "Umm - but with YOUR hair?? Are you sure??" And I said yes! Sure enough, when I did the bc and everybody saw it, they were surprised. So was I a little. It was not as hard to manage as I thought it would be and I loved my curl pattern. Go ahead girl!! Do it!!!

 

[YummyC]

It wasn't hard for me to make the decision to transistion at all. A bad perm/weave job pretty much made the decision for me. With the right amount of information and patience, you should be able to do do it without too much hassle. There's plenty of threads started by women transistioning to natural, and try looking at some of the natural hair threads (Like the 4a roll call) so you can get an idea of what kind of moisturizing, detangling, or protein products you might want to try on your hair.

For me personally, light proteins and plenty of moisture were essential; coupled with low manipulation. My hair pretty much stayed in non-existention braids the entire 7 months of my transistion. Lots of hot oil treatments and deep conditioning.

Funny thing was that I got so attached to products that worked for my transistioning hair- but once I went natural my hair was like "what the heck skippy is that and why did you slather it on me?"

Good luck with your decision and I hope this helps a bit.

Thanks for the tip about the type 4 roll call; I'll check it out. What did you use for light protein and for mositure?

 

[loolalooh]

I just want to ask how hard is it to transition? How did you come to that decision?

I transitioned for 10 months. It was VERY doable so long as I stayed away from straight styles. I mainly wore strawsets, rollersets, braids, wigs, and braidouts to disguise my kinky new growth. It got more difficult when my new growth passed the 3-inch mark, but the transition was still worth it.

I came to the decision to transition because the many years of relaxing just didn't work out for me. I was tired of off-and-on breakage, thinning ends, and never passing SL.

 

[IntelligenceisBeautiful]

I only transition for 4 months and I had braids and then a weave.

 

[YummyC]

I know exactly what you mean. Before I went natural and I was telling my friends and family I wanted to do it, they all said "Umm - but with YOUR hair?? Are you sure??" And I said yes! Sure enough, when I did the bc and everybody saw it, they were surprised. So was I a little. It was not as hard to manage as I thought it would be and I loved my curl pattern. Go ahead girl!! Do it!!!

Same here, I've told my family before that I wanted to go natural and siblings can be outspoken sometimes. My brother said I would look weird and my Mom said that it would be too hard to manage. Mom is type 3c so are my sisters. I got the super tight curls I use to hate when it was time to comb my hair when I was a child. It was always shorter and harder to comb.

I am pretty sure I am going to transition, no time like the present to try.

 

[locabouthair]

I have gotten a lot of new growth this time around. I am 9 weeks post and I have at least 1.5 inches already. Chalk it up to the heat here in Djibouti or just the fact that I have been working out, eating well and drinking plenty of water daily. I now know that I am a true 4a, I cna see the spiral bright as day. I con wash every other day and massage my scalp at night and my new growth feels weird to me; in a good way though. Its soft and kind of springy. Without mne boring you guys with talking too much about this, I just want to ask how hard is it to transition? How did you come to that decision? I've had a relaxer for so long, I've never really looked at the curl of my hair and now that I see it and its pretty its so different. What I remeber of my hair as a child was tough, hard to comb, head hurting sundays. I wonder if I went natural now if it would be like that or much easier since I now know a bit more about hair care. Thoughts...?

Man I wish I had growth like that. I always loved your hair!

To answer the question, transitioning was very easy for me mainly because my hair was very short, not even NL. And I wore braids which made it very easy for me. This was before I found LHCF and I didnt know anything about moisture and whatnot.

I transitioned because I was tired of my hair breaking all the time. But now that I found LHCF I'm relaxed again.

 

[naturalgurl]

Hey girl. I know what you mean about thinking back to your childhood hair days! I now see why my hair was like that. If I didn't moisturize it I would have that same hair after a few weeks of abuse. I transitioned mostly in braids, corn rows and buns. I say it's well worth it. You'll have thicker hair and there's just something about being natural that takes a lot of worry out of styling your hair. I'm glad you liked what your felt and saw. That's a sure sign that you want natural hair or will be able tolerate the transition. It's when people think that their natural hair is ugly is when the problem comes in. My advice on taking care of it....look at all of the natural fotki's you can get your hands on. See what others do to achieve the look you want. Everything is not for everyone so take what you can use and leave the rest. You'll enjoy the journey because discovery is WONDERFUL! Ok, I'll shut up now!

 

[YummyC]

I just want to ask how hard is it to transition? How did you come to that decision?

I transitioned for 10 months. It was VERY doable so long as I stayed away from straight styles. I mainly wore strawsets, rollersets, braids, wigs, and braidouts to disguise my kinky new growth. It got more difficult when my new growth passed the 3-inch mark, but the transition was still worth it.

I came to the decision to transition because the many years of relaxing just didn't work out for me. I was tired of off-and-on breakage, thinning ends, and never passing SL.

is that your hair in your siggy? its very pretty. Thanks for responding.

 

[YummyC]

Man I wish I had growth like that. I always loved your hair!

To answer the question, transitioning was very easy for me mainly because my hair was very short, not even NL. And I wore braids which made it very easy for me. This was before I found LHCF and I didnt know anything about moisture and whatnot.

I transitioned because I was tired of my hair breaking all the time. But now that I found LHCF I'm relaxed again.

Thanks
Do you find it easier to be relaxed then?

 

[the_UnPrettiest_pretty]

Hmmmmm...........it's not hard to transition, at least you know there's a wealth of knowledge here to help you. When I made the decision, it was because I wanted to see what my hair felt and looked like after all those years of using a relaxer. I did like my hair going back to it's natural state, but because I wasn't ready to do a BC, I wasn't doing any trimming, and I really started to miss my relaxed roots, I decided that transitioning was not for me anymore. I went back to being relaxed. If and when you decide to make that decision, make sure that you're doing it for YOU. YOU and YOU only. Don't do it because someone pressured you, or you feel like so many others are doing it that you'll jump on the bandwagon too. Do it because you want to. There are lots of wonderful threads to help you along your journey. We'll support you in whatever you decide to do

 

[YummyC]

Hey girl. I know what you mean about thinking back to your childhood hair days! I now see why my hair was like that. If I didn't moisturize it I would have that same hair after a few weeks of abuse. I transitioned mostly in braids, corn rows and buns. I say it's well worth it. You'll have thicker hair and there's just something about being natural that takes a lot of worry out of styling your hair. I'm glad you liked what your felt and saw. That's a sure sign that you want natural hair or will be able tolerate the transition. It's when people think that their natural hair is ugly is when the problem comes in. My advice on taking care of it....look at all of the natural fotki's you can get your hands on. See what others do to achieve the look you want. Everything is not for everyone so take what you can use and leave the rest. You'll enjoy the journey because discovery is WONDERFUL! Ok, I'll shut up now!

Thanks naturalgurl
I'm a little scared though lol, I might look funny. vain comment I know but its the truth.

 

[naturalgurl]

Thanks naturalgurl
I'm a little scared though lol, I might look funny. vain comment I know but its the truth.

I know exactly what you mean. Take your time and if you don't like it you can relax. No pressure at all. It's about what you want and what you like.

 

[locabouthair]

Thanks
Do you find it easier to be relaxed then?

Yeah. I was natural for 4 years. But it got to a point where styling took too much time. So right now relaxed hair is easier for me. I still love natural hair though..

 

[YummyC]

Hmmmmm...........it's not hard to transition, at least you know there's a wealth of knowledge here to help you. When I made the decision, it was because I wanted to see what my hair felt and looked like after all those years of using a relaxer. I did like my hair going back to it's natural state, but because I wasn't ready to do a BC, I wasn't doing any trimming, and I really started to miss my relaxed roots, I decided that transitioning was not for me anymore. I went back to being relaxed. If and when you decide to make that decision, make sure that you're doing it for YOU. YOU and YOU only. Don't do it because someone pressured you, or you feel like so many others are doing it that you'll jump on the bandwagon too. Do it because you want to. There are lots of wonderful threads to help you along your journey. We'll support you in whatever you decide to do

Thanks Miss_cherokee
I've always wondered what I it would be like, what I would look like etc with natural hair. Thanks for the advice.

 

[YummyC]

You Ladies are the best!! Thanks for sharing

 

[egg200]

I totally agree with everything Loolalooh said. When I was transitioning I relied a lot on braidouts to disguise the texture differences between my texlaxed hair and my new growth. It did get harder the longer my new growth got, but I wanted to wait to cut until I reached chin length, so that's what I did. If you are going to transition the one think I would say you need is to focus on conditioning and moisture so you don't have breakage where the relaxed hair meets the new growth. HTH.

 

[YummyC]

I totally agree with everything Loolalooh said. When I was transitioning I relied a lot on braidouts to disguise the texture differences between my texlaxed hair and my new growth. It did get harder the longer my new growth got, but I wanted to wait to cut until I reached chin length, so that's what I did. If you are going to transition the one think I would say you need is to focus on conditioning and moisture so you don't have breakage where the relaxed hair meets the new growth. HTH.

Thanks egg200; condition and moisture got it
How long did it take for you to get to chin length?

 

[naturalgurl]

Thanks egg200; condition and moisture got it
How long did it take for you to get to chin length?

This is such a natural question and so many ask it. Think of it this way. If it takes 4 months, it'll take 4 months. If it takes 1 year, then it takes 1 year. Either way, that time will pass anyway. Do you want to relaxed or natural at that time? I had to learn to just let time pass, and with tender love and care you'll be where you want to be at the right time.

 

[Nonie]

It wasn't hard for me, but I've been natural more years in my life than relaxed so I was just going back to hair I knew. I did it in braids. That made it as much a breeze as it is managing my hair now. I braided (extension singles) and didn't think about it. I redid each braid as needed as I do now. Only I was more systematic then. I started redoing from the back, as time allowed, till I got to the front. Each time I undid a braid, I snipped off about 1/4 inch. So in a year, I had all my relaxed ends off and only natural hair. Yes, I wore braids the whole year.

 

[Ms Lala]

I didn't find it hard but I was natural in high school so I knew what to expect. I cut my hair after 6mos and alternated between wearing braids w/extensions and rocking coils.

 

[Ms Lala]

Thanks naturalgurl
I'm a little scared though lol, I might look funny. vain comment I know but its the truth.

That's not vain. It actually took me a couple of months to get used to wearing my natural hair out w/o straightening. You have to try various styles and find what suits you. If you don't like it you can always press it straight or go back to relaxing. I would say that you shoudl probably do a long transition instead of BCing right away since you are still unsure.

 

[Cheleigh]

It wasn't hard for me. I transitioned 12 months. I wore braidouts and buns for most of my transition. I did extension twists for about 6 weeks. I think I used a blowdryer once during my transition.

My transitioning hair was starting to look wackalicious, so I had to BC because I was "never" looking cute anymore.

 

[YummyC]

This is such a natural question and so many ask it. Think of it this way. If it takes 4 months, it'll take 4 months. If it takes 1 year, then it takes 1 year. Either way, that time will pass anyway. Do you want to relaxed or natural at that time? I had to learn to just let time pass, and with tender love and care you'll be where you want to be at the right time.

ok , patience got it

 

[YummyC]

It wasn't hard for me, but I've been natural more years in my life than relaxed so I was just going back to hair I knew. I did it in braids. That made it as much a breeze as it is managing my hair now. I braided (extension singles) and didn't think about it. I redid each braid as needed as I do now. Only I was more systematic then. I started redoing from the back, as time allowed, till I got to the front. Each time I undid a braid, I snipped off about 1/4 inch. So in a year, I had all my relaxed ends off and only natural hair. Yes, I wore braids the whole year.

cool, thanks for the info.

 

[YummyC]

I didn't find it hard but I was natural in high school so I knew what to expect. I cut my hair after 6mos and alternated between wearing braids w/extensions and rocking coils.

I'll be here in Djibouti for another 5 months so I don't think I will relax while I'm here. I do braid outs and buns right now so I'll keep doing that until I can't anymore. I had a bad experience with braids are not an option for me. My sides are too fragile

 

[YummyC]

That's not vain. It actually took me a couple of months to get used to wearing my natural hair out w/o straightening. You have to try various styles and find what suits you. If you don't like it you can always press it straight or go back to relaxing. I would say that you shoudl probably do a long transition instead of BCing right away since you are still unsure.

I plan on not relaxing for the next five months while I'm here in Africa. Braidouts and buns are my fave styles right now.When I get home it will be winter so I can rock cute hats and scarves too until next summer. That's my plan right now

 

[YummyC]

It wasn't hard for me. I transitioned 12 months. I wore braidouts and buns for most of my transition. I did extension twists for about 6 weeks. I think I used a blowdryer once during my transition.

My transitioning hair was starting to look wackalicious, so I had to BC because I was "never" looking cute anymore.

wackalicious lol, I think thats what my hair looks like right now. I have a mini afro under this straight stuff. It really doesn't show all that much, well except for the front and the nape, its clearly kinky